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Zen promotes the rediscovery of the obvious, which is so often lost in its familiarity and simplicity. It sees the miraculous in the common and magic in our everyday surroundings. When we are not rushed, and our minds are unclouded by conceptualizations, a veil will sometimes drop, introducing the viewer to a world unseen since childhood. ~ John Greer

Monday, October 31, 2011

Popularized by José Guadalupe Posada, this Catrina is
the skeleton of an upper class woman with large breasts and
one of the most popular figures of the Day of the Dead celebrations, which
occur during two days, November 1 and November 2, corresponding with the Catholicholy days of All Saints
Day and All Souls Day.
Although these holy days have a long cultural history reaching into the
prehistoric traditions of several European cultures, many aspects of the
Mexican festival have indigenous origins in an Aztec festival
dedicated to the goddessMictecacihuatl.
After the conquest of Mexico, the Spanish superimposed their cultural
traditions upon the similar Aztec festival and a synthesis occurred.

La Catrina, as it is commonly known, was a popular
print in Posada's day, but soon faded from the popular memory. Along with the
rest of Posada's prints, it was revived by French artist and art historian Jean Charlot shortly
after the Mexican Revolution in the 1920s. La
Catrina soon gained iconic status as a symbol of uniquely Mexican art and
was reproduced en masse.

The image was incorporated into Diego Rivera's
mural Dream of a Sunday in Alameda Park, which also includes images of his
wife Frida Kahlo,
Posada, and a self-portrait of Rivera.

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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Quinceañera (lit. meaning One (f.) who is fifteen),
sometimes called Fiesta de Quinceañera, or simply quince, is the
celebration of a girl's
fifteenth birthday in parts of Latin America and
elsewhere in communities of immigrants from Latin America. This birthday is
celebrated differently from any other birthday, as it marks the transition from
childhood to young womanhood.

In Mexico, the birthday girl is fixed up with fancy makeup. Traditionally,
this was the first time she would wear makeup, but more recently this is no
longer the case. She also has her nails and hair done especially for this
occasion and dresses up with a fancy dress that she had chosen in advance.

In the Mexican tradition - and if the teenager is Catholic - the quinceañera
festival begins with a Thanksgiving mass. For this mass, the
teenager wears a formal dress, usually quite creative in fashion and reminiscent
of what a western bride or princess would wear. Traditionally, the quinceañera
would wear a pink dress to symbolize her purity; however, in recent decades,
white has become the color of choice to symbolize this treasured quality.

She arrives at the celebration accompanied by her parents, godparents,
damas, and chamberlains. She is also awarded a tiara as a reminder that
to her loved ones, especially her immediate family, she will always be a
princess. [Wiki]

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